cloud storage; architecture

Now that the cloud has become all-pervasive, this question is relevant for everyone. According to Gartner, by 2020 a corporate no-cloud policy will be as rare as a no-internet policy is today. “Cloud-first,” says Gartner, “and even cloud-only, is replacing the defensive no-cloud stance that dominated many large providers in recent years. Today, most provider technology innovation is cloud-centric, with the stated intent of retrofitting the technology to on-premises.” To discuss cloud storage architecture, we first need to unpack the familiar but somewhat hazy meaning of “cloud.” The cloud actually comes in several flavors, and it’s definitely not “one size.